A Montclair family is advocating to find families for older, orphaned children from Colombia, and an event has been planned for July 10, to which potential families and interested parties are invited.
Rachael and Mark Egan, who adopted their own two daughters from infancy in New York, told Barista Kids (which wrote about the non-profit Kidsave.org’s Summer Miracles program here) they feel passionately about this endeavor.
Here’s an interview BK had with Rachael recently:
Who should attend this event on Sunday?
People interested in learning about older child adoption, people interested in learning about hosting an orphan, or to advocate for their adoption, and people interested in learning about volunteering with Kidsave.org (a non-profit dedicated to helping older orphans and foster-care children meet people who may adopt them) to help older orphans around the world and in New Jersey.
What’s motivated you and Mark to take on this generous venture?
Mark and I have been very lucky in our lives, and we are now in a position to help some one else. I guess we’re doing it because we CAN do it. We feel joyful that we can help a child to find love, health and happiness. The alternative for most orphans around the world who age out of care, without parents, is homelessness, hunger, and abuse. Kidsave gives us the opportunity to make a difference in the world in a very immediate and intimate way.
We understand you are hosting a 13-year-old child from Kidsave in the hopes of placing her with a family. How is that getting on?
It’s a privilege to have Liz with us. She is gentle, easy going, kind, and affectionate. Liz loves to make jewelry and can’t wait to take a ballet class. Our girls (age 3 and 5) adore her already, and anyone who meets her will feel the same way.
What are the pros of adopting an older child?
There are huge advantages–less sleepless nights and diapers for starters! But also there are age limits for people who wish to adopt infants, which are very different for people who want to adopt an older child.
Why Colombia?
A few people have asked me this. This is basic humanitarian aid. These children haven’t much hope without Kidsave, and the opportunity to work with Kidsave sort of presented itself at just the right time for us. We adopted our first two children domestically. They are both New Yorkers. In the future I’d love to help Kidsave with their plans to bring their highly successful Weekend Miracles program to New York and New Jersey. It will give people here the opportunity to host local foster kids for weekends.
And why Montclair?
I think Montclair is the perfect town to embrace Kidsave–being diverse and warm and friendly! And I hope we have a wonderful turnout on Sunday. We will only have four Colombian children at this particular event, but we can provide many more bios on Kidsave kids who are waiting for parents. Colombian adoptions are open to singles, and couples, gay or straight. If anyone is interested in helping these wonderful children, please come and meet them on Sunday.
What: Colombian Garden Party for Kidsave.
When: July 10, Sunday, 12.30 pm – 3.30 pm
Where: First Congregational Church of Montclair, 40 South Fullerton Avenue Montclair, NJ, 07042
Details: Colombian food for all (free), sponsored by Sarah and Giles Colwell, with refreshments and desserts by the congregation of The First Congregational Church Montclair. Games will be organized and there will be Colombian music by Compas of Parent’s Who Rock.
(Photo: By writer, shows Rachael Egan with Liz, from Colombia, who is being hosted by the Egans for a month. They were taking part in Montclair’s Fourth of July Parade this past Monday.)
You may have heard of the Korean adoptee who, due to a snafu with another “orphan”, was sent to a family instead of the girl they had “chosen”; of course they did not notice the difference. The girl was old enough to remember this horrific infinite moment of tragic happenstance.
Another story: An adoptee from my “orphanage” here in Beirut remembers, at the age of four, the nuns telling the children to be on their best behavior, because some parents-cadeaux–gift parents–were coming to choose a lucky child. She remembers the competition this set up in her mind, and how it changed her view of those in the orphanage with her, as well as introducing for her the concepts of deceit, manipulation, and false-facedness.
And so here an NGO brings in Colombian kids like so much coffee to be sampled by the privileged parents who, if the child is “lucky”, might decide that s/he will become part of their “family”. Let’s ignore the fact of the matter that these hosts, their very lifestyle, and their political leaders that they vote for and support, have done more than anything to set up the conditions in Colombia that create these “orphaned” children.
Let’s ignore their very hands in this, and focus instead on the parade of poverty disguised as beneficent charity. This lies somewhere between pet adoption (the dog won’t live forever) and kidnapping on the Horror Scale, and I can’t imagine how anyone of reason, good faith, and mindfulness of the situation of the world could even conceive of something so disgusting and counter to human dignity.